An important feature of any democracy is the free circulation of information. For people to appropriately assess what's going on in the country, what their selected officials are doing, and what all these mean for them, they have the right to acquire and connect with this information. Throughout history, journalists have sought to be the voice of the people, expose the wrongdoings of government and serve as watchdog against injustice. One of the major struggles of journalists in the Philippines was during Martial Law.
On September 28, 1972, Marcos issued Letter of Instruction No. 1, authorizing the military to take over the assets of major media outlets that includes ABS-CBN Network, Channel 5, and various radio stations nationwide.
Marcos blamed established press for ruining the administration, by spreading news that presented its shortcomings to channel the blazes of the Communist movement.
In the Letter, Marcos states that these news sources were “ engaged in subversive activities against the Government in the broadcast and dissemination of subversive materials and of deliberately slanted and overly exaggerated news stories and commentaries as well as false, vile, foul and scurrilous statements and utterances, clearly well-conceived, intended and calculated to malign and discredit the duly constituted authorities, and thereby promote the agitational propaganda campaign, conspiratorial activities and illegal ends of the Communist Party of the Philippines.”
On the first week of Martial Law, the publisher of Philippines Free Press Teodoro Locsin Sr. were arrested including Manila Times publisher, Chino Roces, and a few notable columnists including Amando Doronila, Luis Beltran, Maximo Soliven, Juan Mercado, and Luis Mauricio. The evening of their arrest, the prisoners were directed to a room by Col. Generoso Alejo.
In spite of the execution, some media outlets were still allowed to continue were as yet permitted to keep running print issues and circulating shows on the wireless transmissions. These includes Philippine Daily Express, the Kanlaon Broadcasting System, and several televisions channel under Marcos cronies.
The Media Advisory Council kept on assuming an essential part with Martial Law in full impact. In October 1972, when the Supreme Court was inspecting the genuine reason for Martial Law, Mijares distributed a progression of stories on New People's Army rebels gathering in large numbers in the slopes around Manila. In December 1972, when Marcos got wind of resistance to his proposed Constitution, Mijares distributed articles assaulting explicit agents and officials as destabilizing the public authority. In August 1973, when Marcos and his cronies could not deal with the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company, Mijares additionally created claims of stock control and misrepresentation.
In the 47th year of the assertion of Martial Law, as mindful residents, as media educated individuals of the advanced age and as one country, we will remain against any person or thing that persecutes our privileges for truth and equity; battle for the individuals we have lost during and after the military law; reconstruct the mainstays of popular government; and make a solid establishment to keep it from imploding and staggering down. As valiant Filipino residents, we will cooperate to additional press opportunity for a moral, autonomous and careful press that battles for equity, talks only reality, serves the individuals wholeheartedly and attests the privileges, all things considered.
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